Color and more, made in R.I.

VERY IMPORTANT WORK: General manager of A Perfect Print Elisa Scittarelli, pictured above, says she gets a “kick out of” seeing A Perfect Print’s distinctive work in high-profile settings.

PBN FILE PHOTO/TRACY JENKINS

Posted:
Saturday, August 3, 2013 12:05 am

By Patrick Anderson PBN Staff Writer

People go to great lengths to secure special access to the world’s biggest events and wear their VIP passes like badges of honor, often saving them years later as souvenirs.

Colorful credentials are everywhere at concerts, championship games and conferences, usually hanging from equally colorful lanyards draped around the necks of attendees.

At A Perfect Print LLC of Providence, the demand for distinctive promotional products, such as lanyards, has helped fuel rapid growth over the past three years and doesn’t show signs of stopping.

In addition to lanyards, A Perfect Print puts the color, graphics and words on a wide range of narrow fabric products, such as belts, dog collars, leashes, shoe laces, suspenders, guitar straps and headbands.

From its factory near the Cranston line in the Huntington Industrial Park, the company prints images – through dye sublimation heat transfer – on materials from nylon to elastics and webbing to satin ribbon.

“The one thing I get a kick out of is when you custom design something that’s a particularly colorful and quality piece of work and then you see its being worn all over and on television,” said A Perfect Print General Manager Elisa Scittarelli.

High-profile events where A Perfect Print lanyards have appeared include President Barack Obama’s second inauguration, Ozzfest concerts and National Football League games.

In many cases, only company employees know exactly where their work is appearing. Because they print products for suppliers, they often have to keep their role anonymous. For example, Scittarelli couldn’t say which NFL teams and Hollywood movie premiers A Perfect Print has made lanyards for.

A 20-year veteran of the textile industry, Scittarelli decided there was a market opportunity in decorating and improving narrow-fabric materials produced by other mills.

Although the textile industry in Rhode Island and the South Coast of Massachusetts isn’t what it once was, there are still about eight textile manufacturers in the region, including William Jette & Sons Inc. in Providence, where Scittarelli spent gained most of her experience in the industry.

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